Ritual CEO Ray Reddy announced this morning that the Toronto-based food ordering app’s key talent is ready for pickup by Shopify.
Co-founders Reddy and Larry Stinson, alongside members of Ritual’s research and development (R&D) team, are leaving to join the e-commerce giant. Reddy will be Shopify’s new vice president of retail, The Globe & Mail reported.
“One of Shopify’s secret weapons is that we’re full of founders. And we keep adding more.”
Kaz Nejatian
Reddy will remain on Ritual’s board of directors as an advisor and the company will continue under new leadership, but it’s unclear who will serve as CEO in his stead. Shopify directed BetaKit to the public X posts from Reddy and Shopify leadership when asked how many Ritual employees are joining the company and in what capacity. BetaKit has reached out to Ritual for comment.
“Over the years, I’ve gotten to know Tobias, Harley, Kaz, and the Shopify crew, and I’ve been blown away by their deep respect for entrepreneurs and their long-term vision (decades, not years) to make commerce better for everyone,” Reddy wrote in a LinkedIn post.
“I’m inspired by the opportunity to help local businesses adapt and thrive as generative AI reshapes customer expectations—a moment that reminds me of launching Ritual over a decade ago during the rise of mobile internet.”
Members of Shopify’s leadership team expressed their enthusiasm on X about Reddy joining the team.
“Shopify is a company where founders come together to make software and markets which causes more founders. I’m super excited about Ray joining up, always admired his work,” Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke wrote.
“One of Shopify’s secret weapons is that we’re full of founders. And we keep adding more,” Shopify COO Kaz Nejatian added in a separate post.
RELATED: Ritual lays off 16 percent of staff to “prepare for a recession”
Ritual launched as a mobile food ordering app in 2014, catering to office workers picking up lunch orders. By 2019, the company had raised a total of $143 million CAD and was valued at $300 million USD.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Ritual’s business model suffered due to the “devastating impact” of reduced in-person operations. The startup laid off over half its staff and wound down operations in Germany and the Netherlands.
Later that year, the company quietly raised nearly $30 million CAD, in part to help grow its commission-free online ordering tool and compete with other food delivery apps. In 2022, Ritual decided to cut 16 percent of staff to prepare for the possibility of a recession, Reddy said at the time.
This marks the first time Ritual will operate without any of its original co-founders. Co-founder Robert Kim left the company in 2021 to launch GoodGood, a craft product-focused commerce startup.
The news comes after a spate of acquisitions of direct-to-consumer brands by the e-commerce giant. Last summer, Shopify bought Checkout Blocks, Threads, and ChannelApe. The habit extends as far back as 2013, with the acquisition of former VP of corporate development and head of product Satish Kanwar’s design agency Jet Cooper. In 2019, Shopify acquired Helpful, founded by current VP of partnerships and product Dan Debow and head of engineering Farhan Thawar. However, there is no indication that Shopify is planning to fully acquire Ritual.
Shopify’s growth as Canada’s e-commerce giant has accelerated recently. According to its latest earnings report, the company’s sales climbed 26 percent year-over-year to $2.16 billion USD in Q3, beating expectations and marking Shopify’s sixth consecutive quarter of greater than 25 percent revenue growth.
Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.
Feature image courtesy Ritual.